William Orpen

Adam and Eve at Peronne

Artist: William Orpen

Media: Oil on canvas

Dimensions: 76.2 x 63.5 cm

Date: 1918

Sir William Orpen was born in Dublin Ireland in 1878. At the age of thirteen William was already winning art awards form the Metropolitan School of art in Dublin. William initially wanted to be a caricaturist but his cartoons were rejected by the magazines he submitted them too. After little success as a caricaturist William decided to teach at the Dublin School of art. In 1908 William became a popular portrait painter, painting portraits of prominent military figures such as Winston Churchill. In 1917 William was commissioned to produce painting of the Western Front. Many critics now consider William to be the greatest war artist Britain ever produced. More info

I chose Orpen’s Adam and Eve at Peronne because it shows an act of kindness amongst the destruction of war. We see buildings in tatters and a soldier in full uniform being weighed down by his gear. A kind civilian woman offers some fruit to the weary soldier. Toward the end of the First World War the soldier’s rations became scarce, many had to resort to catching and eating rats that had infested the trenches.